Over the past three weeks, a notable public faceoff occurred in the Washington Post.

An editorial (1) by David Levy, Executive Director of the Children's Rights Council, commenting on a recent tragic incident in Maryland, pointed out that child custody battles can incite domestic violence by driving parents "nuts."

The following week the Post ran an opposing editorial (2) by Joan S. Meier, faculty member at George Washington University Law School. The op-ed contains numerous one-sided statements and fabrications about child abuse. She repeatedly uses the phrase "dangerous fathers" and "violent and abusive fathers," without ever mentioning the problem of "violent and abusive mothers."

According to the US Administration for Children and Families:

Story here. And I thought we'd never see an interview with any of the adult male suspects in this case, much less one that doesn't immediately call for their executions. It does fall short of the highly sympathetic tone interviewers are giving "the mothers" in this whole thing. And predictably, the interview quickly turns to the subject of sex. Excerpt:

'Rodriguez conducted the interview Sunday night with three men whose children were among more than 400 removed by authorities from the sect's compound in a raid earlier this month.

It was the first time since the raid that any male members of the sect spoke with a member of the media.

In the wide-ranging interview, Rodriguez asked, “After all this, can you see why society looks upon you and says, ‘A girl who's younger than 18 shouldn't be married and having sex?’ Has this forced you to reconsider?”'

Story here. Excerpt:

"The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs isn't doing enough to prevent suicide and provide adequate medical care for Americans who have served in the armed forces, a class-action lawsuit that goes to trial this week charges.

The lawsuit, filed in July by two nonprofit groups representing military veterans, accuses the agency of inadequately addressing a "rising tide" of mental health problems, especially post-traumatic stress disorder.

But government lawyers say the VA has been devoting more resources to mental health and making suicide prevention a top priority. They also argue that the courts don't have the authority to tell the department how it should operate.
...
An average of 18 military veterans kill themselves each day, and five of them are under VA care when they commit suicide, according to a December e-mail between top VA officials that was filed as part of the federal lawsuit.

"That failure to provide care is manifesting itself in an epidemic of suicides," the veterans groups wrote in court papers filed Thursday."

Chores for two: Why men don't pitch in. From the article:

"The fact that guys, when left to their own devices, rarely rush to offer more toilet-scrubbing and diaper-changing is not in itself surprising. As Martin Luther King Jr. once observed, “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”
...
"Yes, dear readers, it’s true: Maintaining some semblance of parity in your marriage requires you to deploy the same kinds of nasty tactics you swore you would never stoop to as a parent but nonetheless found yourself using the minute you actually had a kid. Bribery and punishment work; so do yelling and complaining. Threats are also effective, as long as everyone knows you mean business. With husbands, tender blandishments and nooky are particularly useful, as is the withholding of the aforementioned.
...
...Unfortunately, all too many women are still teaching their children that “woman is the nigger of the world,” as John Lennon and Yoko Ono put it so memorably in a song lyric years ago."

Article here. Excerpt:

"Picture a scenario where the male breadwinner of a family has lost his job but is so afraid to come clean to his loved ones that he carries on faking his commute to work, complete with business suit, tie and briefcase. It's one that has been imagined in various books and films - such as Falling Down, in which Michael Douglas plays a character who pretends to his mother that he still has a job to go to.

But could you ever imagine a woman behaving in that way? While the gender gap has been bridged in many areas of working life, experts say that when it comes to job losses, women are far better equipped than men to deal with the bitter blow of redundancy. And with forecasts last week predicting that the credit crisis could lead to up to 40,000 job losses in London's financial service sector over the next two years, it's a theory which many could soon find themselves putting to the test.

Story here. Excerpt:

'"We are officially launching an exciting new component of the United States Ambassador's Girls' Scholarship Program by welcoming this first group of boys into the program marking an important step forward in our effort to increase educational opportunities for Namibian children."
...
According to her the programme will over the next year support a total of 200 boys in grades 1 through 7. The boys in this program will receive school uniforms, school supplies, boarding and lodging fees, as well as counseling. "I'm very pleased that we have the opportunity to invest in the education of these bright young boys - who have worked so hard - that we help them succeed in school and move on to the next level of education. Helping girls and boys stay in school and do well in school prepares them to meet life's challenges. It also will help them contribute to economic development and the spread of democratic values in Namibia, and to become a positive influence for future generations," she said.'

Essay here. Excerpt:

"Jonah Bloom, the editor of Advertising Age recently took an outrageous position backing advertising that either severely denigrates men, pictures them as subjects for sexual or social abuse, or portrays them as fools in a world of wonderful women.

In his article "When It Comes to Whining About Ads, Father Knows Best", Bloom makes the grave mistake pontificating there is something wrong with real live men who object to men being generically treated like manure by writers unable find one ounce of respect for anything other than women. Perhaps Bloom would so ardently support agencies if they crudely portrayed women as brain-dead sex objects, or broad-brushed blacks with Klannish racist insults?

Mr. Bloom has an expensive lesson to learn. It should start by costing him his job. Both racism and sexism are unacceptable under any circumstances. Since Mr. Bloom has ardently endorsed sexism, Advertisers must call for him to step down."

Letter published here. Excerpt:

"The message is clear - men have improved a little, but still don't do enough, and women are still getting a raw deal.

This is an unfair distortion because it disregards the fact that men are usually their family's primary breadwinners, and often make great sacrifices in that role.
...
In the home, men generally do the more dangerous work such as fixing the broken roof tiles or fixing the plumbing, yet this is never included in the definition of housework - why?

Because it would reflect the reality that men do perform a lot more than the media wants to pretend we do - in order to please certain hostile groups with a clear agenda to demonise one sex in preference of the other. This man bashing is known as misandry.

This is the male variant of misogyny - a hatred of men, and is perpetuated in part by the media with its endless adverts filled with dumb, stupid husbands and reports which forget' to include various factors. It is high time men stood up for themselves and demanded to be treated fairly by the media."

Story here. Excerpt:

"A man's life was left in tatters by a woman who falsely cried rape.

Louise Ndikum spun a 10-month tissue of lies which ended with innocent Alexesi Chua having to appear in court.

He broke down in the witness box as he was forced to give evidence even though the single mum had admitted perverting the course of justice.

Ndikum –originally told police she had been raped in the street by a stranger. And when confronted by detectives she continued to lie – this time claiming she had been raped by a man in his house.

Ndikum admitted lying to police but maintained her charade until the bitter end at Portsmouth Crown Court."

Story here. Excerpt:

"Peoples Bank is offering a refund to people who donated to a fund for the woman who falsely claimed she was abducted and raped while running at Little Squalicum Beach last month.

Bellingham Police announced Wednesday that the woman fabricated the story.

The Squalicum Beach Runner’s Fund was established after the alleged March 2 incident by community members who wanted to supplement state victim assistance funds to help the woman cover her lost wages, living expenses and other costs associated with surviving the supposed attack."

Story here. Excerpt:

"As a surge in surrogate births sweeps the country - up 28 percent in the past five years - baby-loving city bachelors are getting into the act, finding egg donors, providing sperm and paying surrogates to give birth to their offspring.

James Shrybman, a surrogacy lawyer in Dickerson, Md., advised about 10 bachelors last year. Such clients were once "non-existent," he said.

New Jersey lawyer Melissa Brisman has helped at least five city men through the process in the past year."

Story here. Excerpt:

'The state's highest court ruled yesterday that a man can be charged with rape if he ignores a woman's calls to stop - even if she had previously consented to sex.

With this expansion of the legal definition of rape, Maryland joins seven other states whose courts have determined that a woman can revoke her consent after intercourse begins.
...
All seven judges agreed that a woman has the right to revoke consent, but reached that conclusion in different ways. Yesterday's ruling returns the 2004 rape case of Maouloud Baby to Montgomery County for a new trial.
...
The victim testified in Montgomery County court that she agreed to sex "as long as he stops when I tell him to." As he began, she told him to stop because he was hurting her, but he kept going for five or 10 seconds, she said.
...
Mel Feit, director of the National Center for Men, based in Long Island, N.Y., said the facts of Baby's case have been lost in the larger argument about a woman's right to say no.

With MSN leading the charge, of course. Read the crap here. Excerpt:

'Depression is one of the most common postpartum medical problems that new moms face. New research suggests that the risk is even higher for those who give birth to boys.

Most moms will readily admit that rambunctious little boys are a bit more challenging to parent than little girls, who are generally quieter and less physically active. But the impacts of gender on parenting don’t necessarily start once the little ones start toddling.

New research out of France found that women who gave birth to boys were significantly more likely to suffer from severe postpartum depression than women who gave birth to girls. The findings weren't limited to severe depression: Women who gave birth to boys were also much more likely to report a lower quality of life than women who gave birth to girls.'

Story here. Excerpt:

"A group of southern Indiana middle school girls videotaped the beating of a 12-year-old schoolmate and posted it on the Internet in an attack that authorities believe was inspired by a similar one in Florida, police said.

No charges have been filed and police said they have not yet interviewed all the girls, ages 12-14, who are students at Clarksville Middle School. The girls' identities were not released because they are juveniles.

The victim, who was treated for cuts and bruises at a hospital, was the daughter of a police officer, said Police Chief Dwight Ingle.'

Via e-mail:

'There have been so many exciting developments lately!

* "INDOCTRINATE U" HAD ITS NEW YORK CITY DEBUT on Monday night, playing to a capacity crowd at the Director's Guild of America theater in midtown Manhattan. (See below for some words from the director following the wildly successful NYC premiere.)

* THE DVD IS NOW AVAILABLE (FINALLY!) - At long last, the much-requested DVD can now be yours. Visit the "Indoctrinate U" online store.

* THERE ARE MORE SCREENINGS COMING UP AT CAMPUSES all over the country. For the most up-to-date information on future screenings, go to: http://indoctrinate-u.com/pages/screenings.html'